European Vistas

European Vistas

History, Ethics and Identity
in the Novels of Claudio Magris

Remko Smid

PETER LANG

Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • New York • Wien

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet
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A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Smid, Remko, 1979- author.

Title: European vistas: history, ethics and identity in the works of Claudio Magris / Remko Smid.

Description: Oxford; New York: Peter Lang, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2019039874 | ISBN 9781789976359 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Magris, Claudio—Criticism and interpretation. | Magris, Claudio—Knowledge—Europe.

Classification: LCC PQ4873.A3645 Z88 2020 | DDC 853/.914—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019039874

This work was accepted as a PhD thesis by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Zurich in the fall semester 2017 on the recommendation of the Doctoral Committee: Prof. Dr. T. Crivelli (main supervisor) and Prof. Dr. S. Zanetti.

Cover image: www.pixabay.com.

Cover design: Peter Lang Ltd.

ISSN 1660-6205

ISBN 978-1-78997-635-9 (print) • ISBN 978-1-78997-636-6 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-1-78997-637-3 (ePub) • ISBN 978-1-78997-638-0 (mobi)

DOI: 10.3726/b16187

© Peter Lang AG 2020

Published by Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers,

52 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LU, United Kingdom

oxford@peterlang.com, www.peterlang.com

Remko Smid has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this Work

All rights reserved.

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.

Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.

This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

About the author

Remko Smid completed a PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Zurich. Always attracted by interdisciplinarity and undoubtedly influenced by both his Dutch and Italian origins, Smid has incorporated many of his interests into this book: literature, history, culture, politics, and the past, present and future of the European project.

About the book

Claudio Magris is one of Italy’s – and Europe’s – most renowned thinkers and writers. He is considered an authority on central European literature and culture and is frequently interviewed about his hometown Trieste, the region called Mitteleuropa and the European Union. But what makes Magris such a relevant figure on the European literary scene?

European Vistas aims to answer this question by analysing the three most central elements in Magris’ novels – history, ethics and identity – in relation to contemporary Europe. His choice of particular histories are considered in terms of the ethical ideas and values that motivate him as well as the relevance of these stories for Europe. The book also explores Magris’ understanding and narration of identity and its potential for a transnational mode of identification, specifically within the European context. Ultimately, the author demonstrates why Magris’ ideas about history, ethics and identity are fundamental for Europe’s future.

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Contents

A Note on Translations

Introduction

Crossing Borders

Chapter 1

‘Writing a historical novel means throwing oneself into the chaos of history’

Chapter 2

‘Fight against oblivion’

Chapter 3

‘Identity should always be declined in the plural’

Conclusion

A European Novelist

Bibliography

Index←vii | viii→ ←viii | ix→

A Note on Translations

Novels by Claudio Magris

Illazioni su una sciabola (1984)

Danubio (1986)

Un altro mare (1991)

Microcosmi (1997)

Alla cieca (2005)

Non luogo a procedere (2015)

Equivalent Titles in English Translation

Inferences from a Sabre (1985)

Danube (1989)

A Different Sea (1995)

Microcosms (1999)

Blindly (2012)

Blameless (2017)←ix | x→ ←x | 1→

Introduction